Sallie’s Crying Tree: a short tale of overcoming grief and hoping for the future

The Crying Tree. A symbol of the past, yet also a beacon of hope for the future. Its branches held a story of a young slave girl and her hopes for freedom and all the things it would bring her later in life. This is a short yet sweet tale worth telling, and hopefully, it will change you for the better.

The story begins in 18th-century Virginia. A young slave girl named Salie’s whole life changed when her family was auctioned and sold at a slave auction at the Smyth County Courthouse. The results left her alone as a “body servant” to the sickly wife of her owner, Thomas Thurman. Throughout the years, Sallie expressed her grief by crying next to a white oak tree in the Thurman yard and “sometimes hug the tree and tell it about her burdens and sorrows.” It took a while, but after the Civil War and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Sallie gained her freedom. Later on, she got an education and experienced the life she wanted.

Sallie's story was a tale of overcoming grief and hoping for a better tomorrow. It took a lot of time, but through it all she preserved and, in the end, she was rewarded. It gives us a lesson: Where there's an unfortunate time in your life, there will be hope at the end of that.